Review ~ Ice Like Fire (Snow Like Ashes #2) by Sara Raasch

Synopsis:

It’s been three months since the Winterians were freed and Spring’s king, Angra, disappeared—thanks largely to the help of Cordell.

Meira just wants her people to be safe. When Cordellan debt forces the Winterians to dig their mines for payment, they unearth something powerful and possibly dangerous: Primoria’s lost chasm of magic. Theron sees this find as an opportunity—with this much magic, the world can finally stand against threats like Angra. But Meira fears the danger the chasm poses—the last time the world had access to so much magic, it spawned the Decay. So when the king of Cordell orders the two on a mission across the kingdoms of Primoria to discover the chasm’s secrets, Meira plans to use the trip to garner support to keep the chasm shut and Winter safe—even if it means clashing with Theron. But can she do so without endangering the people she loves?

Mather just wants to be free. The horrors inflicted on the Winterians hang fresh and raw in Januari—leaving Winter vulnerable to Cordell’s growing oppression. When Meira leaves to search for allies, he decides to take Winter’s security into his own hands. Can he rebuild his broken kingdom and protect them from new threats?

As the web of power and deception weaves tighter, Theron fights for magic, Mather fights for freedom—and Meira starts to wonder if she should be fighting not just for Winter, but for the world.

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Review:

I’m a little sad that this book didn’t have as much impact as Snow Like Ashes did. Ice Like Fire is less magical and more political.

There are so many things that went wrong for me in this book, mainly because of Meira. I really liked her character in Snow Like Ashes, but her character development in this book disappointed me because I didn’t think it was a good development. This book shows how unfit she is to be a queen. Perhaps that’s understandable since she didn’t have the training and upbringing of a true queen, and it saddened me to see her kingdom no better off than when Winterians were slaves. She had advisers, but she kept disregarding their advice. She thought she could solve her kingdom’s problem on her own, which is just impossible. She kept rambling about losing herself and being what her kingdom needed her to be, but what she didn’t seem to understand is that she is herself, but that’s not what she, and her kingdom, need. From what I could gather, she needed her kingdom more than they needed her. She needed the help of those she trusted; the help of her people. She didn’t need to solve everything on her own, as what she was stubbornly doing. Her actions in this book show how young she is to take the responsibility of her kingdom in her shoulders. Also, she’s so weak when it comes to her emotions. I can’t believe how she won’t stand up against Theron. She didn’t know how to make a stand.

I don’t understand why Mather needed to have his own POV. I didn’t learn anything interesting from him, except Feige.

Despite the political plotting, I like the way the other kingdoms are explored. I was given a bigger picture on how the kingdoms exist with and against each other. I liked the differences in tradition. Sara Raasch delivered in her one of a kind world building.

The thing I hate the most in this book—in this series (actually, in most of YA series)—is the love triangle. We already have a strong story here: strong plot, strong characters, strong bonds—SO WHY DO THE AUTHORS FEEL THE NEED TO ADD LOVE TRIANGLE AS A CONFLICT? WHY DOES THIS AUTHOR HAVE TO SMEAR HER STRONG FEMALE LEAD WITH THIS WEAKNESS? WHY CAN’T FEMALE LEAD HAVE OTHER WEAKNESS ASIDE FROM THE LOVE INTEREST? I don’t understand. Love triangle is a nuisance in a good story.

Ice Like Fire is a weak sequel to a book as great as Snow Like Ashes. This sequel is idle. What is that called—second book syndrome? Yeah, I think Ice Like Fire is suffering from that. I think I’ll be further disappointed if the third book is a bang. An idle book between two great books feels like a waste of time.

~ Zee

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